01.20.08

A Month of OOXML Publicity Stunts and Microsoft’s Fake Openness

Posted in BSD, Deception, ECMA, Europe, Formats, Microsoft, Open XML, Standard at 3:40 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Open… for interpretation

By this stage, many people have possibly forgotten the Burton Group-Microsoft stunt. It isn’t the latest one though. As the following short article indicates, Microsoft’s claim that OOXML has opened up further (as once requested) is nothing but another stunt.

One has to wonder where Microsoft thinks it’s going to find anyone competent who’s willing to write open source BSD licenced code that can only benefit the Vole [Microsoft] itself, without any compensation except a promise not to get sued.

Sam Hiser actually predicted something of this kind about 4 months ago when we corresponded. He said that Microsoft would let some binaries go at the last minute in order to give its little standardisation-by-corporation campaign a much-needed boost.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, Microsoft’s spin doctors continue to upset, as the following meeting minutes reveal:

We didn’t discuss why the OSP isn’t enough but [Microsoft's] Chris did a lot of work criticizing Andy Updegrove for his articles against Microsoft. Well, in another audience that might work.

I criticized Microsoft of taking the fast track route when it was later discovered that the specification was not at all qualified for that route. A document is not ready for a fast track, when so many faults and errors can be found. ECMA didn’t do their job. Chris some kind of agreed (!) with me and said that the route was chosen after recommendation from ECMA.

[...]

I am beginning to understand why Microsoft is still claiming to be open. Basically it’s a matter of how we interpret the one word open. Microsoft think that XML alone makes the standard open. I use another definition. The process has to be open and transparent and the organization must be protected from being hijacked by a singe vendor. I don’t think he [Chris Capossela] agreed or even commented on that.

It sure seems like Microsoft is aware of its sins. It hasn’t any defense for it, either. Rest assured, it will strive to rewrite history when the whole thing is over. Fortunately, we have plenty of stories documented — and they ain’t going away any time soon! █

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

What Else is New

Links 18/6/2019: i386 Abandoned by Canonical and a New osquery 'Community'

Links for the day
Indifference or Even Hostility Towards Patent Quality Results in Grave Injustice

The patent extravaganza in Europe harms small businesses the most (they complain about it), but administrative staff at patent offices only cares about the views of prolific applicants rather than the interests of citizens in respective countries
Links 18/6/2019: CentOS 8 Coming Soon, DragonFly BSD 5.6 Released

Links for the day
'AI Taskforce' is Actually a Taskforce for Software Patents

The mainstream media has been calling just about everything "HEY HI!" (AI), but what it typically refers to is a family of old algorithms being applied in possibly new areas; patent maximalists in eastern Asia and the West hope that this mainstream media's obsession can be leveraged to justify new kinds of patents on code
Patent Maximalism is Dead in the United States

Last-ditch efforts, or a desperate final attempt to water down 35 U.S.C. § 101, isn't succeeding; stacked panels are seen for what they really are and 35 U.S.C. § 101 isn't expected to change
Links 18/6/2019: Linux 5.2 RC5 and OpenMandriva Lx 4

Links for the day
Weaponising Russophobia Against One's Critics

Response to smears and various whispering campaigns whose sole purpose is to deplete the support base for particular causes and people; these sorts of things have gotten out of control in recent years
When the EPO is Run by Politicians It's Expected to Be Aggressive and Corrupt Like Purely Political Establishments

António 'Photo Op' Campinos will have marked his one-year anniversary in July; he has failed to demonstrate morality, respect for the law, understanding of the sciences, leadership by example and even the most basic honesty (he lies a lot)
Links 16/6/2019: Tmax OS and New Features for KDE.org

Links for the day
Stuffed/Stacked Panels Sent Back Packing After One-Sided Patent Hearings That Will Convince Nobody, Just Preach to the Choir

Almost a week ago the 'world tour' of patent lobbyists in US Senate finally ended; it was an utterly ridiculous case study in panel stacking and bribery (attempts to buy laws)
2019 H1: American Software Patents Are as Worthless as They Were Last Year and Still Susceptible to Invalidation

With a fortnight left before the second half of the year it seems evident that software patents aren't coming back; the courts have not changed their position at all
As European Patent Office Management Covers up Collapse in Patent Quality Don't Expect UPC to Ever Kick Off

It would be madness to allow EPO-granted patents to become 'unitary' (bypassing sovereignty of nations that actually still value patent quality); it seems clear that rogue EPO management has, in effect, not only doomed UPC ambitions but also European Patents (or their perceived legitimacy, presumption of validity)
António Campinos -- Unlike His Father -- Engages in Imperialism (Using Invalid Patents)

Despite some similarities to his father (not positive similarities), António Campinos is actively engaged in imperialistic agenda that defies even European law; the EPO not only illegally grants patents but also urges other patent offices to do the same
António Campinos Takes EPO Waste and Corruption to Unprecedented Levels and Scale

The “B” word (billions) is thrown around at Europe’s second-largest institution because a mischievous former EUIPO chief (not Archambeau) is ‘partying’ with about half of the EPO’s all-time savings, which are supposed to be reserved for pensions and other vital programmes, not presidential palaces and gambling
Links 15/6/2019: Astra Linux in Russia, FreeBSD 11.3 RC

Links for the day
Code of Conduct Explained: Partial Transcript - August 10th, 2018 - Episode 80, The Truth About Southeast Linuxfest

"Ask Noah" and the debate on how a 'Code of Conduct' is forcibly imposed on events
Links 14/6/2019: Xfce-Related Releases, PHP 7.4.0 Alpha

Links for the day
The EPO is a Patent Troll's Wet Dream

The makers of software and games in Europe will have to spend a lot of money just keeping patent trolls off their backs — a fact that seems to never bother EPO management because it profits from it
EPO Spreading Patent Extremists' Ideology to the Whole World, Now to South Korea

The EPO’s footprint around the world's patent systems is an exceptionally dangerous one; The EPO amplifies the most zealous voices of the patents and litigation ‘industry’ while totally ignoring the views and interests of the European public, rendering the EPO an ‘agent of corporate occupation’
Guest Post: Notes on Free Speech, and a Line in the Sand

We received this anonymous letter and have published it as a follow-up to "Reader's Claim That Rules Similar to the Code of Conduct (CoC) Were 'Imposed' on LibrePlanet and the FSF"
Links 13/6/2019: CERN Dumps Microsoft, GIMP 2.10.12 Released

Links for the day
Links 12/6/2019: Mesa 19.1.0, KDE neon 5.16, Endless OS 3.6.0 and BackBox Linux 6

Links for the day
Leaked Financial 'Study' Document Shows EPO Management and Mercer Engaging in an Elaborate “Hoax”

How the European Patent Office (EPO) lies to its own staff to harm that staff; thankfully, the staff isn't easily fooled and this whole affair will merely obliterate any remnants of "benefit of the doubt" the President thus far enjoyed
Measuring Patent Quality and Employer Quality in Europe

Comparing the once-famous and respected EPO to today's joke of an office, which grants loads of bogus patents on just about anything including fruit and mathematics
Granting More Fundamentally Wrong Patents Will Mean Reduced Certainty, Not Increased Certainty

Law firms that are accustomed to making money from low-quality and abstract patents try to overcome barriers by bribing politicians; this will backfire because they show sheer disregard for the patent system's integrity and merely lower the legal certainty associated with granted (by greedy offices) patents
Links 11/6/2019: Wine 4.10, Plasma 5.16

Links for the day
Chapter 10: Moving Forward -- Getting the Best Results From Open Source With Your Monopoly

“the gradual shift in public consciousness from their branding towards our own, is the next best thing to owning them outright.”
Chapter 9: Ownership Through Branding -- Change the Names, and Change the World

The goal for those fighting against Open source, against the true openness (let's call it the yet unexploited opportunities) of Open source, has to be first to figuratively own the Linux brand, then literally own or destroy the brand, then to move the public awareness of the Linux brand to something like Azure, or whatever IBM is going to do with Red Hat.
Links 10/6/2019: VLC 3.0.7, KDE Future Plans

Links for the day
Patent Quality Continues to Slip in Europe and We Know Who Will Profit From That (and Distract From It)

The corporate media and large companies don't speak about it (like Red Hat did before entering a relationship with IBM), but Europe is being littered and saturated with a lot of bogus software patents -- abstract patents that European courts would almost certainly throw out; this utter failure of the media to do journalism gets exploited by the "big litigation" lobby and EPO management that's granting loads of invalid European Patents (whose invalidation goes underreported or unreported in the media)